Shrouded
by queenoneil
Summary: Raiden, Gabriel, and Allison are all 18 years old and on their way to an academy for the training of future Specialists, Outpost Guardians, and Duel Masters. It won't exactly be an easy ride, as the other students seem destined to have them fail. Not only that, but hushed secrets and gossip abound around the teachers of the school. Time will only tell as to what will happen.
1. Chapter 1

****WARNING****

 **This story will contain upsetting elements that are too broad and varied to cover fully with only one disclaimer. I will describe each one, if any, before every chapter as a precursor to what they will entail.**

 ****COPYRIGHT****

 **Most of the characters in this fan-fiction story do not belong to me. They will belong to either Hasbro, Andrew R. Robinson, and/or Wizards of The Coast. They characters that I do own will be stated at the end of each chapter.**

* * *

Raiden looked himself over in the mirror one more time, preparing himself for the journey ahead of him and his friends. He was eighteen now, and had just finished his senior year of school with flying colors. His hair, now shoulder length and maroon tipped – a sort of halfway comprise between him and his father, even with Ray's insistence that Ken had had his hair even longer in his younger years – had been combed down and it's frizz had been dusted away with a can or two of hairspray. His outfit was on the more "emo" side, a dark black hoodie over a bright red t-shirt with torn navy jeans and platform sneakers, which his now wiry and lanky frame fit perfectly. A bit of black eyeliner had been liberally applied, as it never hurt to use, no matter what the gender.

He could hear voices speaking downstairs, his mother and Gabriel, no doubt. His father was already outside, shoving the multitude of bags into the car, with the added help of Allison and Lucia. He brushed his hair down once more, and quickly plodded down the stairs where his suspicions were confirmed. Gabriel was explaining to her about the benefits of additional training, as well as passive-aggressively reminding her that they were older then they had been when they'd first started dueling, and she was nodding and querying as he paused and testified.

Gabriel had changed quite a bit over the years, but he still retained his chunky, nerdy physique. He was wearing a dark grey button down vest over a pressed blue shirt with black dress pants and simple brown loafers. His old yellow pastry cap had been since outgrown, and he sported a brown flat cap instead. His face was usually scruffy, having little time to focus on shaving with his many studies, and he needed a pair of thick rimmed glasses since the 9th grade, which had been in part to a misfire involving a Star Sentinel.

He looked up and away from Janet as he heard Ray's shoes hit the bottom step. Grinning broadly, he walked over to him and clapped him on the shoulder. "And there's the man of the hour!" Gabe confidently said. "I hope you're all ready?"

Ray nodded. "Yeah, More than ready! I've been looking forward to this since my birthday!" He then walked over to his mother and hugged her tightly. "I'll write to the both of you guys every week, okay?" She ruffled his hair and released from the hug, giving a sort of sad smile. Before she could say anything in response, Allison opened the front door to the house, and poked her head through. "Hey, the car's all set!" she said to both the adolescent boys. "C'mon, let's get this over with." She added, with a visibly annoyed tone on both her face and in her voice.

Allison, as in comparison to her other friends, was smack dab in the middle regarding how much she'd differed in four years. While her hair was still long and ginger, she'd grown out her bangs longer to frame her face, and it had currently been tied into a long ponytail. Her fashion style had massively changed, taking on a sporty feel as opposed to her casual Goth style, with her long sleeved lavender shirt and denim vest, as well as black running shorts and sneakers. Lucy had stayed stocky and long haired, sticking true to her simple style with a long red sundress and lace less white slip-on sneakers. As they boys stepped out, she and Ray's father were working together to slam the trunk of the car door shut firmly with a loud thud.

"Okay, now, you're all set to go!" Lucy said, turning on her heel to face the three of them. She smiled warmly, then frowned a bit and sighed, pulling a bit on her hair as she suddenly looked at the ground. Her eyes darted back up to Allie again. "It… it is only for one month, right?"

Allison pulled Lucy closer to her, taking her hands in her own and rubbing them supportively. "And then we'll come right back home, straight to you!" She pulled Lucy's hands up to her mouth and kissed the fingers gently. "I can promise you that." Allison seemed to be just as saddened to leave as Lucy did, as she let go of her hands and got into the middle seat in the front. Gabe took the driver's side as Ken and Ray shared one last small talk between the two of them.

"I've read about this place, Dad. I'll be fine." Raiden said, trying to sound politer with his words, even if they did sound a bit stand-offish.

"You've read about it. I lived through it." Ken said, his voice taking on a solemn tone. His voice dropped lower, apparently not wanting Allie and Gabe to hear anything more. "Your great-uncle brought me straight there after my mother's death to get my mind off of her. Needless to say, it worked a bit too well."

"If you're trying to scare me, I don't think it's going to work. I've faced off with the Choten, like, twelve times," Ray joked, trying to take the edge off. "Not only that, but I doubt that any of the San Campion Masters would have agreed to send me off to a death trap." Ken sighed, but he nodded and smiled "Alright, just watch yourself, and be safe."

"I will be!" The teenagers said, and he ran off to the car, waving at his father. "Bye! I love you both!" Lucy and Ken both waved back as he got in the car's passenger seat, Gabe started it up and they drove off. Ray spent the next few minutes of the trip, pondering over what he'd been told by both his father and the masters. They had barely gotten an hour into the road trip before Gabriel began to massively info-dump about their destination whilst driving, much to Allie's visceral chagrin.

"Do you know that the Shroud Academy was officially instated as an alternative form of duel training only six hundred years ago, a total five hundred thousand years after it was created? Apparently this was because it kept moving so rapidly from place to place that nobody could keep track of it long enough to make note of it! Not only that, but this place is vast, said to have nine different courtyards and a library the size of six football fields! Adding onto this, there's…"

"Adding onto this, there's a ninety percent chance of you not shutting up!" Allie loudly interrupted, smacking her feet directly onto the dashboard. Gabe glared at her, and clearly his throat. "That is not what I was going to say, Allie. What's gotten into you, anyways? You've been kind of mean and short tempered to pretty much everyone this whole morning."

"I'm just annoyed, that's all!" she said, peeling off one of her shoes and straightening her sock, which had slipped down her ankle and fallen nearly off. "I mean hell-o! We're spending an entire month of our summer vacation at some old, dusty school?! I'm all learned out, can't we get a break for just one second before we get some other nightmare thrust at us?" She groaned and put her shoe back on, as Gabe desperately looked over at Ray for a helping hand. But, Ray was still deep in thought regarding the school, and was of no use in an argument.

Gabriel sighed and looked back at the road, his eyes darting up at his GPS. They'd been going down this highway for a while now, but nothing had told them to turn off at any stops or routes. He had triple checked to make sure that the coordinates were correct, but was beginning to doubt himself. His fingers tapped the sides of the wheel impatiently, as he decided that maybe he should turn off and ask for directions instead.

But, as luck would seem to have it, a sudden foggy green flash of light covered everything. The three of them screamed as Gabriel weaved around the road (or what he assumed was the road), trying to regain some sort of direction. Ray was nearly lurched out of the window he'd previously been staring out of, and Allie grabbed onto Gabe's shoulder tightly, digging in deep her fingernails. After what had to have felt to have been the longest 15 seconds of their life, the green 'fog' cleared, and Gabriel slammed on the breaks to avoid crashing into a sudden rock wall that had become visible.

Once the three of them had caught their breath and regained their bearings, they stepped out of the car to observe their new surroundings. They were on a cliff's side, overlooking a vast forest of black and red trees gently swaying in the brisk wind. A crystal clear lake, bubbling slightly and rippling as the black leaves touched the surface, snaked into a massive waterfall cascading down into a bright emerald green valley. A large orange dragon, snakelike and swift flew overhead, spiraling and dancing in the air as it came closer. It set down gently in front of the three and their car, bobbing its head and baring its teeth as if it were greeting them. Ray instinctively held out a hand to touch its head, but was stopped when the sound of something else landing caught both his and his friends' attention.

"Raiden. Allison. Gabriel." said the newcomer. It was a woman, very tall and very curvy, with long raven black hair in natural curls, winged eyeliner and maroon lipstick. Her skin was a very dark brown, and her dazzling golden eyes glanced over them inquisitively. She was wearing a pitch black robe, with bright red accents extending from the arms and throat. She bowed in reverence, and said "It was so nice to you to arrive so succinctly. I am Master Rougelle, charmed to meet your acquaintance." All at once, all of them had something to ask her.

"What the heck did you do that for, don't you know could've gotten us all killed?"

"How'd we get here? Is this how could made the… school-thing disappear for so long?"

"Is this your partner creature? She's really something!"

She put a hand up to her mouth, giving a small chuckle, as she spoke again. "Gabriel. Allison. Raiden. You're all just how I always imagined you to be like." The dragon walked over to her, and she motioned towards it openly. "This is Spitfire Serpent. She's very friendly, naive even, but she can take more of a hit than you'd think. As for your other questions, I believe it would be easier to show you than to explain." With a snap of her fingers, the serpent proceeded to grab the four of them with her tail, and fly them up to the top of the mountain. "I'll see to it that your luggage is brought up shortly."

Upon seeing what was atop the mountain, the three teenagers were taken aback. It was a massive castle, looking like something out of a fairytale or a movie, covered in moss and made up of light grey bricks. It consisted of six towers in a star shape, all interconnected by thick walls and a massive front entryway, with a large set of metal doors and an iron gate. As the group walked through the doors, they saw a group of other teenagers (one boy and two girls), looking to be around the same ages as them, at which point Ray gave a friendly smile and waved to them.

The boy, who seemed to be a bit jittery and shifty as if he couldn't keep still, waved back rapidly, and then quickly averted eye contact and stared at the sky as if he was embarrassed. The girls had been nuzzling, and the red-haired one seemed to scowl and pull the black and purple haired girl closer. The other girl didn't seem to notice that he'd waved, she was too busy engrossed in her 'friend' to really care. Raiden turned back to the Master who was guiding them, and cleared his throat.

But, before he could say anything, she said "I know what you're going to ask, don't fret. Welcome to Shroud Academy!"

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 **ORIGINAL CHARACTERS:**

 **Master Rougelle, Spitfire Serpent**


	2. Chapter 2

****AUTHOR NOTE****

 **Wow, I didn't expect so much of an explosion in popularity for my short little story in such a short time! Thank you all very much for reviewing, favoriting, and following my silly little story. It's good to know that there are still fans of this show, even after for all this time. My inbox and the review section are both open to any questions or theories for the story if you want to tell me them/ask! Also, Orion, Sabrina, and Yazmin are from the TCG.**

 ****WARNING****

 **This chapter contains implied suicidal thoughts and suicidal actions displayed by one of the characters, but no death.**

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Master Rougelle led them through the corridors, explaining to them the purpose, location, and history of each room. On the first "floor" of the castle, there was a grand entrance, along with a room which led to a resting area which was set up with black wood ruby cushioned couches, some of which had golden plating on the legs. On either side of this room, there were doors, the left leading to a kitchen, which looked almost out of a cooking magazine due to its cleanliness. The other led to a large banquet hall, where a mahogany table set with 80 chairs and porcelain plates and cutlery stretched out across the room's entirety.

The second "floor" had a battling arena, similar to the one in San Campion, but had much more rows of seats the seemed to touch the ceiling. Also on this floor were boy's and girl's dormitories, which had a copious amount of extremely fluffy and fancily-prepared beds, as well as a few chests of drawers for any of their other clothes. A hospital wing was smack-dab in the middle of both of these places, for obvious reasons, and it was sterile and clean and probably the whitest and brightest room in the whole castle, looking severely out of place in Ray's opinion.

The third floor contained the master's dormitories, Rougelle's and two other masters, which were Light and Water if the carvings on their doors meant anything. Her door had a carving of the Fire Civilization's mark on it, but that was all that the three saw of it before she moved onto the next room, which made Gabe's displeasure with her vanish into thin air. It was a massive library, stitching on for miles both vertically and horizontally, the shelves stacked full with scrolls, tablets, handwritten journals, and other media. Gabriel bounded headlong into the room, giggling cheerfully like he was a kid again, while Ray smiled and Allie groaned, smacking her palm to her forehead.

"Oh, let him," Rougelle said, patting Allison on the head with a motherly vibe. "He won't do any harm. Besides, these are more or less the only places that you three need to know of." Ray looked up at her, a bit confused by her choice of words. "Wait, what? The only places that we need to know of? What's that supposed to mean?"

The master clicked her tongue. "It means that you aren't exactly allowed anywhere else until you have proven you can either be trusted, or you have finished your training fully and been accepted into our ranks. Since you'll only be staying here for a month as a sort of 'test run', I reckon you'd better start giving your all as soon as possible, if you really want to see more." She said, and turned on her heel as she pressed on her ear communicator, which had given a soft beep. As she walked away, she said "Oh, and Master Aasad has just told me your bags have been brought up to your dormitories. You all should best unpack before June starts."

Ray watched her leave, and then turned back to look at Gabe and Allie, not moving until the sound of her boot-steps had faded away fully. He sat down at the table with them, watching Gabe silently gush over all this newfound knowledge, while Allie leafed through it with mild interest. This continued for about thirty minutes, until the three of them retired back to their dormitories to unpack their belongings.

Ray and Gabe walked down to the boy's dormitory on the left, settling into one of the sectioned off 'rooms' with three beds. They assumed that they would be sharing it with someone who hadn't arrived yet, but the door opened to reveal the other boy that had they'd seen with the young couple. He was small and scrawny, the top of his head barely reaching Raiden's shoulders, and he had light brown hair brushed back and up from his pale white face. His outfit was a long-sleeved dark blue shirt, blue jeans, and white sneakers, all of which seemed to be dusted with a bit of the dark black topsoil from the inside of the battling arena. His husky blue eyes darted around the room, looking between them, their bags, their beds, the wall, the ceiling, almost as if he was searching for something he'd lost. But he kept a friendly smile on his face as he extended a hand for one of them to shake. "My name's Orion," He said, with an audible stutter. "So, uh, you guys decided to come early, too?"

"Yes," Gabriel replied, not really sure if any sudden movements would scare him. "I mean, we didn't want to be too late, being punctual is always good! You know what they say, all…"

"My name's Ray, and this is Gabe!" Raiden said suddenly, cutting Gabriel off mid-sentence. He shook Orion's hand after a few seconds, and Gabe did the same. Orion's smile faded, and melted into a gaze of sheer awestruck wonder, as he looked down at his hand. "Oh, gosh. You guys are… those guys?" He asked, now with his eyes darting between them and his own hand. Ray shrugged, but nodded, thinking it best to go along, even if he didn't know what was happening.

"And the girl must have been Allison!" he stuttered again, but he didn't seem all that wary of his speech impediment anymore. "You guys saved the veil! Twice! You took down the Choten, and, and you uncovered a conspiracy with Caranahan Chemicals… you guys are great. And now, you're going be my roommates, too? Wow, I don't deserve this." He flopped down on his bed, shutting his eyes and sighing dreamily. "Wait until Sabrina and Yazmin find out." The two boys, both suddenly aware of their own celebrity status, silently hoped that Allie wasn't being bombarded with the same amount of enthusiasm by the other girls.

Meanwhile, Allison was getting acquainted with one of the girls, whom she'd bumped into on her way to the dormitory. As luck would have it, she would be bunking with her and her girlfriend as well, being as the six had been the first to show up. Sabrina, as the girl had introduced herself as, was just about as tall as Allie, with dark black-haired streaked purple pulled into a bun, hazel eyes, olive skin, and lots of purple and black mascara and lipstick. She wore a purple sleeveless hoodie, grey leggings, and black high-tops, which also were dusted with soil.

As the girls walked into their section of the dormitory, Sabrina told Allison about the rules she currently knew. "We must have all the main lights out by 9 pm, but we can use our own lights if we need to stay up for something important, as long as we don't cause any disruptions. There's also…" Both she and Allie gasped after she'd opened the door to the room only to find the red-haired girls going through Allison's bag, checking through any books or journals she might have brought, as well as Allie's phone.

She looked up at them after she'd heard the gasp. With an angry tone in her voice, she turned up her nose and said "I was only trying to see if she'd smuggled anything in. You can't blame me for being careful." Sabrina scoffed. "Oh, come on! Master A would have been able to tell, and you really think that the hero of the realms would have tried to destroy us? Honestly, Yazmin, I don't understand your paranoia."

Yazmin, as the girl had now been called, stepped out from behind the bed she'd hunched over, and gave Allie a quick glance from head to toe. Yazmin was muscular, about half a head taller than her and covered in light orange freckles which contrasted sharply against her light brown skin, along with her long bright red hair. She wore a bright yellow tank top, as well as dark green cargo pants, and black combat boots. Her rich blue eyes steadied into a glare, and she crossed her arms incredulously as she bluntly stated "Can't be too careful."

"Uh…" Allie said, not sure what to make of all this. "My name's Allie, pleased to meet you?" Yazmin responded by walking right by her and plopping down on her own bed, rolling over and feigning sleep. Sabrina sighed and patted Allison on the shoulder. "It's not your fault. She just cares too much about me. When we were younger, I nearly drowned on a mission with our Master Hawkins, because my water-suit malfunctioned. She thought that it had been tampered with, and ever since then, she's always kept me from harm."

About an hour after they'd all settled in, it was time for dinner, and the six of them were all called down to the banquet hall. The table had been set with meals, treats, appetizers and desserts from dozens of different cultures, all piping hot and ready to be served. As if by some kind of magnetism, Raiden, Allison, and Gabriel all sat on one side of the table, and Sabrina, Orion, and Yazmin sat on the other. Master Rougelle and Master Asaad sat in the middle, and they watched each group cavort and chatter amongst themselves.

"I'd say they're getting along swimmingly," Master Asaad said, sardonically. Master Asaad was a burly, tall man, with brown skin, a hooked nose, medium length curly black hair (and beard), and soft green-grey eyes. He wore a robe nearly identical to Mater Rougelle's, with the bright red portions replaced with dark blue. A bit amused at his accidental pun, he continued onward with speaking to the other master. "And have you seen Master Brightmore since this afternoon? I haven't seen him since I told him of the students arriving today."

"Master Brightmore has a bit of… history with those three," she remarked, pointing her fork at the San Campion duelists. "Why else do you think he suddenly reinstated his position here, surely not so that dearest Echevarria could have a vacation, no?" She put down her fork, and leaned in to whisper something in his ear. "Speaking of which, keep that man away from my study. If he gets his greasy claws anywhere near my belongings, I'll rip his arms off myself." Master Assad shuddered, but he nodded and went back to eating.

After the meal, all of the duelists went to their dormitories to prepare for bed. Orion was still head over heels on bunking with celebrities, and Gabriel was enthralled with all he might learn with the new library. The only person who wasn't in a chipper mood was Ray, who had been stuck on what Rougelle had said, and its meaning. Of course, he did think about other things, such as her creature, and the amazing food, but it lingered at the back of his mind, staying with him deep into the night. Before he knew it, it was 11 pm, and he wasn't tired in the slightest.

He rolled over, trying to find a comfortable position, but an urge came to him. The urge was telling him to explore the fourth "floor" of the castle, against the Master's wishes. Sure, she was asleep, and he could be more than quiet, but he knew it was wrong. Still, it couldn't hurt to check, could it? He silently put on his gauntlet as he slipped out of bed and into the hallway, which was now dark as the night sky, the only light source coming from a small beam extruding from under the doorway to the girl's dormitory. He rationalized that it was Sabrina or Allie using a flashlight to read, and continued on his way.

But, as he trekked onwards and up the stairs, he soon realized that there was no way he could continue without a light source of his own, the pitch blackness of the stairwell only creaking on further. He activated his gauntlet, hoping that the soft hum and pop wouldn't awake anyone. As he made it to the top of the stairs, he came across a wide open room, with a statue of the Mother Virus in the middle of it. Entering the room, he soon came to realize that it was literally the only thing in there, as his feet tapped on the marble floor.

Walking closer to the statue, he saw that it was made of pure metal, which shined and reflected the light extruding from his gauntlet. Raiden silently wondered if his father had ever made it up here, and as if the statue could read his mind, it's 'eye' glowed a bright blue as it sprung to life. He couldn't scream or even move, paralyzed in shock at what was happening, as the metal tentacles wrapped around his arms and neck, one of the suckers tapping him on the forehead. With a flash of blue light, Ray suddenly found himself in the arena.

 _He found himself unable to move again, as he saw a very young version of his father, no more than 15 or 16, standing in the middle of the arena and facing down a massive Armored Dragon a few feet in front of him. He watched as his father removed the gauntlet, throwing it onto the ground in front of the creature. The dragon stared at it for a second, and then stared back up with hungry eyes. Ken took a deep breath and closed his eyes, waiting for the collision as the beast charged him. But then, a voice called out from across the arena._

 _"Torchwake Dragon, be gone!"_

 _Seconds before the dragon could annihilate Ken, it was dragged down into a black void and back into the Fire Civilization. Shocked and enraged, Ken looked around to see what had happened. Sliding down from the seats was a younger version of The Choten, just about the same age. Ken glared and shoved him backwards. "What was that for?!" he yelled. "I knew what I was doing, August!"_

 _August, feeling a bit slighted by his rudeness after his rescue, yelled back "Knew what you were doing? What are you talking about, Ken? You weren't thinking at all! You could have just died!"_

 _"Exactly!" Ken said, his voice breaking in the middle of the retort. "Exactly," He repeated, shaking and bowing his head. "I'll never be as good as anyone else here, don't you see? I won't amount to anything, and they all know it."_

 _"No, no, no! Listen!" August said, his voice now comforting as he tried to lift his friend's spirits. "You just summoned an extremely powerful dragon, without even knowing it! You even were able to communicate with it without your gauntlet! If anyone says you're unworthy, then they don't know anything." He tightly hugged him, and Ken returned it, sniffling sharply as tears bubbled down his face._

Ray came back to his senses, and fell to his knees as the statue returned to normal. He had no idea what had just happened, but he knew he had to get back to the dormitory as soon as possible. As he went down the stairs, he wondered if he should tell Allison and Gabriel what had just happened, or face this alone. After all, what would the Masters say if they found out?

* * *

 **ORIGINAL CHARACTERS:**

 **Master Asaad**


	3. Chapter 3

****AUTHOR'S NOTE****

 **Sorry for the short chapter! While Sam and Cassy are my OCs, I must give credit to David Colman's Kaijudo concept art. I based the twins directly off of it, and it would be wrong for me to consider them all my own. But, I did create a new reference picture of Master Rougelle in rinmaru's Star Wars character creator, as the new cover picture. All art credit goes to her, she has just given permission for people to use it with credit. The little lizard on her shoulder is a baby version of the Spitfire Serpent.**

* * *

As the next day's dawn emerged softly over the horizon, Alakshmi Verma emerged from a portal from the Fire Civilization, sealing it as soon as she stepped out onto the cold cement of San Campion's streets. She was now 20 years old, and her attitude had changed from calloused and angry to a much more focused – albeit sardonic – vibe. She pulled down her dark black sunglasses, her brown eyes scanning the area for anything that may have followed her here, but thankfully saw nothing of the sort. Clipping the sunglasses onto her belt, she gave a small smile and walked down the street to the Five Paths Martial Arts Studio.

As her personality changed, so did her looks. Her lavender hair, shining bright like ivory, was now at tailbone length, and hung freely down her back. She was wearing a dark brown leather jacket with a fuchsia highlight, along with grey work pants. Her gauntlet, though still resembling a crackling fire, had now been upgraded and enhanced so that it had dark orange and black caws jutting from the top, and the red portion seemed to move and glow like magma. The door to the dojo was slightly ajar; Toji and the Masters had just settled in for the day, and she pushed it open gently. The blacksmith's face fit up upon seeing her, and he pulled her in for a warm embrace.

"It's been ages!" he bellowed cheerfully, swinging her around. Alakshmi laughed, responding with a sarcastic "Are you going to lock me up again, or am I still out on good behavior?" He put her down after he'd stopped, blushing a bit and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Ah, my apologies. You're tired, no?"

She shrugged. "I'll be alright. I've just come by to say hello, that's all." Toji nodded, and pressed the button, opening the mirror's secret passageway. Walking down the stone staircase, the woman felt a weird sense of something, perhaps remembrance of how it hadn't been that long ago that she'd been training under these Masters, in these halls. She couldn't wait to see them again, nor could she wait to see Raiden, Allison, and Gabriel's faces when they arrived. Much to her surprise, Master Jaha was waiting for her at the very bottom of the steps, grinning sweetly from ear to ear.

"Welcome back, Specialist Verma." She said, bowing to her. Alakshmi bowed back in reverence, as Jaha began to lead her up into the war room. Deeming this odd – although not odd enough to be out of character for the Darkness Master – she asked "Uh, shouldn't you at least ask me how my travels went? Is something the matter, Sensei?" Jaha did not respond, until the two of them reached the War Room where Master Isao was located. "She's here!" Jaha called out, and the Light Master turned.

"Alakshmi!" He called out, boyously. "I didn't expect you to be back so soon. How were your travels?" Feeling a bit more vindicated, Alaskhmi bowed to him and said "Well, Lord Skycrusher is still a massive pain in the neck, but I think I might be able to get through to him in the next decade, if things go well. He's currently in the midst of a lands disagreement with Gregoria, and nobody seems to want to take the neutral ground except for me. Hm, wait until Allison hears that, she might have some tips on how to help negotiate."

"Yes. I am afraid, however, it will have to wait." Isao said. Alaskhmi gave him a concerned look, as she slowly began to rationalize why exactly she'd been brought up here. "What happened to them? They're not hurt, are they? I swear if it was one of the Choten's ex-!"

"No, they aren't hurt, Alakshmi." Jaha said. "They're just on a bit of an informative holiday. Summer school, so to speak." Jaha walked over to Argus, and tapped on him gently with one bony hand, revealing an incredibly blurry image of the Shroud Academy. "My apologies for the unclear image, it's nearly impossible to find any sort of pictures of this place." Her eyes widened, and then narrowed into a squint as she tried to figure out exactly what she was looking at.

"The Shroud Academy," Isao explained. "It's been said to lie directly in between the two veils, unchanging in its presence, but it can never be found in the same place twice. Reserved only for the most elite duelists, not necessarily for the faint of heart. I studied there in my youth, and Ken began his first steps into the art of Kaijudo there." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Though, a fair amount of their training methods are crass as compared to more modern temples, and it baffles my mind that those three wanted to continue their training there."

"Of course Ray would want to go there," Alakshmi whispered under her breath, as Jaha picked up where Isao left off. "I've heard of it, but I've never been inside of it." The Darkness Master said. "It's not even really that mandatory, you can get more or less the same amount of knowledge from any other temple. I reckon the main appeal is its secrecy. But, what would I know?" She suddenly cleared her throat. "Master Kimora, I would prefer it if you didn't hover like that. Gives me the creeps."

The Nature Master gasped softly, and walked up the stairs, from where he'd been 'hiding' from the three. "Oh, my apologies! I didn't mean to creep, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't interrupting your conversation, just… waiting my turn." Master Isao cocked an eyebrow quizzically, but he extended his hand and bowed, giving Kimora the leeway to speak. "So, how are you, Alakshmi?" Kimora asked, still a bit uncharacteristically jumpy.

"Fine," she said. "Do you happen to know anything about this Academy, Master Kimora?" He froze, his smile fading and becoming a bit more neutral. He kicked at the ground, foregoing eye contact as he replied "Well, uh, I was stationed there a few years back, until I was summoned for a position here in San Campion. It's just a bit weird to hear that name again." Masters Nadia and Chavez, wondering what the commotion was all about, had come up to the War Room as well, and Kimora thanked his lucky stars that she was too distracted to pry further.

Meanwhile, Masters Brightmore and Asaad were overlooking all of the other students that had entered the Academy. Brightmore kept his face in the shadows, not wanting much attention in the case that he may be recognized by one of the San Campion duelist's 'fans' or something. Master Asaad, attempting to rise his spirits, patted him on the shoulder and said "Keep your stresses down. You know you did your best to stop the Choten in your position, and that's what matters."

"What matters is that I joined him in the first place," Brightmore said. "And for what, a group of children that my fellow masters were fawning over?! I can see now that I was selfish, even if the rules were broken, what I've done remains." He turned to leave. "Besides, you two seem to have everything back and under control. I'll be in my quarters."

Asaad grabbed his arm before he could go. "Give it a chance, alright? I'm sure they won't judge you too harshly… much." Pulling his arm from the Water Master, Brightmore continued to look over the balcony at all of the duelists. There was a pair of students talking that caught his eye, and he singled them out to Asaad. "There," he said. "Who are those two?"

Asaad looked over at the pair. "Ah, those are Samuel and Cassandra, twins. A bit ironic that you chose the both of them." He chuckled. "Samuel deals in explicitly Water and Light creatures, quite the brain on that one. Cassandra is a bit more varied, but her signature dueling style is best with Darkness." Brightmore's eyes narrowed as he got a closer look at the two.

Cassandra and Samuel were both pale and raven haired, with dark green eyes that were almost black in their intensity. Cassandra wore a silver cardigan, black leggings, grey flats, and a white beanie atop her long and silky hip length hair. Samuel wore a purple and white t-shirt, a black denim jacket, navy cargo pants and beat-up red sneakers. His hair was tipped white and cropped short around the sides and back, with long bangs just barely covering his eyes.

As if he felt like he was being looked at, his head jerked up as he met the Masters' gazes. The two masters stepped back, mildly spooked. The boy gave a snarky grin, and turned back to his sister, resuming speaking with her. "Reminds you of home, doesn't it?" Asaad asked, nudging Brightmore in the shoulder. But, the Light Master had now been completely overtaken with the twin's similarities to his previous students, and began to wonder if this was some kind of sign; these two were something special, and it'd be in his best interest to not let them slip away.

* * *

 **ORIGINAL CHARACTERS:**

 **Samuel, Cassandra**


	4. Chapter 4

****AUTHOR'S NOTE****

 **I am sorry for not updating in a while, I had severe writer's block and couldn't get the story to sound right. But, here is the beginning of our conflict, as well as the beginning of our heroes' troubles. And we will see what the twins are really all about, or at least Sam!**

 ****WARNING****

 **This chapter contains blood and implied/attempted murder. (At least in Brightmore's eyes)**

* * *

As was customary at the beginning of the year, the duelists were to present their skills before the three masters in order to demonstrate their capabilities. The battles usually were arranged as 2 on 2, thus explaining the evenly numbered chairs, as an added incentive bonus. And, as by luck or circumstance, Gabriel and Raiden found themselves facing off Cassandra and Samuel respectively, and Allison would be dueling against Sabrina. Orion and Yazmin, however, were going first, and intended on setting an example for the three of them.

The two of them set out inside of the stadium, ready to duel. Yazmin activated her bright orange and yellow gauntlet, and summoned her creature. "Justicar Arcanix!" she called out, and a massive titan of a Mecha Thunder emerged from the portal. It bowed reverently before her before turning to face Orion. Unlike most of the students, he was not phased upon seeing this beast before him. "You're not switching it up for our very first battle at the academy?" he asked, a bit of a condescending tone apparent in his stuttering voice.

"Best to stick to who and what you know best," Yazmin said, crossing her arms. "Now then, are you going to duel me, or are you going to just stand there judging my every move, like usual?" Orion grinned, and then activated his white and grey gauntlet. "Waterspout Gargoyle!" he cried, and the Aquan leapt out of the portal with a loud screech. While the size difference between the two was vast, the smaller Water creature was a touch more powerful, meaning the match could go either way.

And with that, the two commanded their creatures to push forward and attack. Waterspout Gargoyle immediately leapt onto the Light Creature's head, clawing and biting, rapidly attacking and clinging onto it with a steadfast grip. Justicar Arcanix did not yield, and even stood still and waered around blindly as its attacker searched for a weak spot with berserk ambition. Orion was confused at the pause in battle, was she seriously going to let him win? He called the Aquan off to try and change tactics.

But, as soon as it released, the Light Creature snatched it up with one massive metal hand and threw it into the wall with a resounding smash. Absolutely stunned, the Water creature struggled to get up, completely out of breath from its prior attempt. Yazmin gave a snarky grin as Orion quietly realized what her point of attack was. But, before he could do anything else, she commanded Justicar Arcanix to use "Solar Wind!" and Waterspout Gargoyle was almost instantly banished, evaporating into water droplets.

"That's enough," Master Brightmore's voice called out from above. He, as well as the other two Masters, were at the highest point of the coliseum, observing everything from a near eagle-eye view. "Yazmin, while your tactics were admirable, they are not exactly optimal for a Light creature's sensibilities. You may find yourself with quite the adamant creature on your hands if you don't think to differ. Orion. Keep a strong defense as well as offense. Rushing into battle like that is irresponsible."

The two bowed in reverence, and Yazmin returned her creature before joining Orion back in the stands. Meanwhile, Raiden, Allison, and Gabriel were unsure about Brightmore's sudden reappearance, which seemed almost coincidental with their arrival.

"I just don't get why they let Brightmore in here of all places after he betrayed the entire order!" Ray whispered over to Allie and Gabe. "I mean, sure, it's not exactly the most mainstream place for him to work, but isn't anybody else here finding this a little sketchy?"

"Well, maybe he's changed!" Gabe whispered right back. "I mean, remember how we found the scorch marks of a Light creature's weapon on the platform of the waylines? He could have very well realized the errors of his ways in joining The Choten, and decided to turn over a new leaf with people that would be less judgmental of his previous wrongdoings."

"Yeah, get real!" Allie lobbed back. "Everybody here knows that he ran here the second that we re-fortified the veil because he was scared! He's stuck here in hiding because nobody else wants him." Gabe turned to look at Allie, and she felt a massive blush creep up her face. "Uh, at least… so I've heard."

"You've been gossiping?" Gabe asked, throwing up an eyebrow. Allie defensively shrugged. "Hey, what else is there to do here? Besides, it's not like anyone's actually willing to defend him." As they argued on the ethics of spreading rumors about one's own teachers, Ray was once again letting his mind wander, as was triggered by Gabriel mentioning the Choten. He thought back to the room with the replica Mother Virus, and wondered if he should tell his friends about what he'd seen.

He was quickly cut off from this when he realized it was his turn to duel, seeing his opponent already waiting for him in the center of the arena. "Wish me luck!" he said to the both of them, and rushed down the steps to join Sam. Upon his feet hitting the ground, Sam gave him a quick once-over glance, huffing gently. "Somehow, I pictured you a little less…" He gestured to Ray's entire body.

"A little less… what?" Ray asked, but Sam just shook his head and activated his cyan and brown gauntlet. "Dragon of Reflections!" he called, as the Tsunami Dragon soared out of the Portal, landing loudly behind him. Raiden, ignoring the weird sort of bluff, activated his golden gauntlet, and called for his partner "Tatsurian the Unchained!" and Bob stomped out of the portal, Ray climbing on top of him.

"This seems oddly familiar," Bob said, surveying his surroundings. "What's the plan of attack?" Ray looked over at Sam and his dragon, looking for any weak spots. The spines on her arms and legs appeared brittle enough, like stained red and gold glass that reflected off every single speck of light, causing little prisms to appear at her feet. "I'm thinking something like surprisal. Make it look like we're just bursting straight in, and then we strike when he least expects it!" Bob nodded, and roared loudly, as they charged straight towards the duelist and his creature.

Sam put up his shield, but the Dragon remained a deadlock gaze, and took the blow straight on. Recoiling from the hit, Ray clenched his eyes shut and shook his head. But, when he opened his eyes, something was extremely off. He was 14 again, and atop Bob, though Bob seemed to be resisting more. He wasn't even in the Academy anymore, but at the temple in San Campion. Master Brightmore and an unevolved Ra-Vu stood before them, as Ray's teachers and an equally young Allie and Gabe anxiously looked on.

"Man, now it's really familiar," Ray muttered under his breath. "Uh, Bob! Try taking out Ra-Vu …again, I guess!" he then yelled, but Bob didn't move. "What are you talking about, exactly?" he asked, shifting his shoulders a bit, and turning around to face the younger Gabe and Allie. "This is our target!" The hybrid armed his missiles and fired directly at them. "Bob, no! What are you doing?!" Ray demanded, as the missiles seemed to fly directly through the force field and hit… Sam's dragon.

Everything switched back to normal. Raiden was at his proper age again, they were in the academy, in the battle with Sam, and Gabriel and Allison were safe, but looking extremely confused. Ray shook his head, trying to decipher why he'd just flashbacked to that one moment in his life. Recovering from the attack, Dragon of Reflections growled, and then stated in a raspy voice "You just think you know what's going on." Sam, taking a page from Raiden's book, climbed atop his dragon, despite her utter confusion.

"Alright then, fine," Sam said. "Let's not waste any more time with this." Ray glared, and Bob's wings unfurled as he took to the sky, Dragon of Reflections hot on his tail. He blasted his rockets downwards, only for them to miss her and smash into the ground. As high as they could go without smashing against the ceiling, they clashed and parried, dinging claws and spines into each other as often as they could. Ray, upon noticing Master Brightmore and his almost pallid expression of disgust, gave a short wave, and want back to the battle at hand.

After yet another clash, the Tsunami Dragon and her rider were directly beneath them. "Bob, now!" Ray yelled, and they piledrived them down into the ground, knocking up black ash and soot everywhere. Sam went careening off his creature and skidded to a halt on his face. Sniffed back blood, he weakly got up and slashed downwards with his gauntlet, though Ray didn't see anything much happen. The Tsunami Dragon, now being pinned down by Bob's massive claws, weakly looked up at the two of them with a wounded glance.

"Alright, Bob!" Ray called out. "You know what to do!" But, Bob did not respond. He started shaking violently, unable to do anything, as Dragon of Reflections cocked her head to the side, with sarcastic innocence. "Bob, c'mon, it's not real! Whatever you're seeing, it's a trick!" Ray reassured him, the armored dragon still staring down his foe with wide eyes. Bob clenched his eyes shut, and fired a missile directly into her face, and she was banished.

"I saw you," Bob whispered as he opened his eyes slowly. Ray was speechless as he climbed off Bob's back. "It's okay." Ray said. "I'm okay, alright?" He gently then returned him to the Fire Civilization, and then walked over to Sam. Sam turned away, and looked at the ground, his bloody nose still dripping heavily. Master Brightmore, almost livid in both his expression and body language, practically stormed into the ring, eschewing any sort of former politeness.

"How absolutely wonderful that you're still up to your old tricks, Raiden," he practically accused, sternly gazing down on him. "Others may claim that your dueling style may very well prove successful, but do keep in mind that this is a professional setting, and there is not a single professional excuse to intentionally coerce and murder one's sparring partner!"

"Wh- coerce?" Ray asked. "Hey, I didn't tell him to start copying me! And what about him completely throwing me and Bo… Tatsurian the Unchained off guard and having us think we're murdering our own friends? You've got nothing, nothing at all to say about that?"

"If you'll kindly excuse my causal speech, do shut up," Brightmore responded. "You don't get any special privileges for being born into this profession, nor twisting the rules to however you see fit." He took a very long deep breath, and then turned to Sam. "Samuel, nice work. Using her reflective capabilities to fool an opponent as such is seldom done correctly. Though, I would not recommend mirroring much from that boy."

He returned up into the seats, as did the other two young duelists. Ray, taking a rather long walk of shame up to where he was seated, could feel the tens of eyes staring at him as he did so. He sat down next to his friends again, feeling a pit growing in his stomach. "Oh, yeah, he's definitely changed, Gabe." Allie said, reclining back in her seat as Ray himself gave a deep sigh. Things weren't exactly going as planned, and he felt like they weren't going to change anytime soon, with Brightmore as a teacher again.


	5. Chapter 5

****AUTHOR'S NOTE****

 **Now we get into the most important plot, and a hint at a possible new ally... or adversary.**

* * *

Across the pitch black river of the Darkness Realm one singular boat rode, guided by a Specter at the helm. In the boat was Lucy, unsure as ever for the fates of her friends at the academy. Sure, they'd all promised to call and write and even video-chat, but a full week had passed and only one call had returned from Allison, which she'd had to initiate first. Perhaps they'd gotten swamped already with schoolwork and whatnot, but the girl wanted to make sure the ones that she loved were in good graces, for everyone's sake. Even Raiden's father had urged her to take precautionary measures, which were to reveal themselves as the boat hit dry rock and settled on the embankment of a massive petrified tree trunk.

Stepping off the boat, she looked around, just in case for there to be none of Megaria's (or the duel master's, heaven knows they love to get involved) spies about. Reaching the top of the trunk revealed a dilapidated old shack, covered in black and navy blue moss. A dim white light illuminated through the small hole at the top of the door, which was good enough for Lucy to assume that someone was inside, waiting for a new 'customer' to help. She took a deep breath, and gingerly stepped over to the door, messing with her braid all the while.

Before she'd even knocked once, a soft voice from inside called out for her to enter. Lucy jumped a bit, but pushed open the door with one hand, holding the other in a gauntleted fist and out front just in case. As she looked inside, she could see the inside was much larger than the out; the room was wide enough for a small apartment. The inside was filled with all sorts of human objects as well as creature, much like Megaria though they were clearly in better shape and not strewn about like garbage.

The creature that called her in sat at a circular table, her snakelike body wrapped around it, giving the illusion of holding it in place. Her pale silver skin and emaciated upper half were covered in a very loose kimono-style jacket, which was dangling off of her so massively that it resembled a blanket were it not for the sleeves and floral pattern. A pair of pupil-less red eyes glowered and gestured for Lucy to sit down, as her mop of greasy white hair flopped around her neck as she scooted back to leave some leg room.

Lucy reclined on one of the coils, still nervous as ever. "I came to you for help, about my loved ones. She- I mean, they went on holiday around a week ago, and we've started to lose contact. I mean, I know that she's more than able to help herself, but…" She sighed deeply as the creature tilted her head to the left, intently listening to every word that Lucy said. "Her name is Allison Underhill. Gabe Wallace and Raiden Pierce-Okamoto were driving her there, if that helps."

The creature smiled. "Rest your weary head. It's alright. Consider this anxiety in the past: Kimiko, Oracle of Misery has everything all under control. Hand me the colander, won't you?" With one bony hand, she gestured to a bowl sitting atop a pedestal to their left. Lucy quickly handed it over, and she filled it full of a dark purple liquid from a bubble-shaped bottle around her neck. Kimiko breathed fire into the receptacle, and the room was full of a dark purple smoke.

When the smoke had mostly cleared out, a wispy yet clear image of Allison banishing her partner creature to the Darkness realm emerged. She shook the hand of another girl as an older duel master, possibly the light master of the institute, walked down into the arena and spoke to them. Though she was unable to decipher what they were saying, she could tell that Allie was getting a much harsher lecturing than the other girl. "At least she's safe," Lucy whispered under her breath as he watched.

* * *

"I can't believe him!" Allie yelled as she walked up to where Gabe and Ray sat. "What'd I do wrong? He's gotta be just picking on us for no reason now, it's the only way. Surprised he didn't try to bite me." She huffed and sat down, still muttering some rather unkind words about Brightmore under her breath.

"Well, you did cuddle Squeaky, as well as call her your 'little grape soda fuzzball' at the beginning," Gabe said, cleaning off the accumulated gray dust on his glasses. "At least you didn't ride her, heh. That would have gotten him really steamed."

"Yeah, but 'game misconduct'? That's what he's calling it now?" Ray asked, still sour from Brightmore's assessment of his own duel. "I think it'd be a little less sportsmanlike if I threatened to murder… Nadia's grandma in the middle of a duel. That's what that other kid did to me!"

"How does he know who Master Nadia…?" Gabe realized what Raiden was getting at almost as soon as he opened his mouth. "Oh. Never mind." He went back to looking at the other duels and examining the sparring strategies of the other duelists. He was doubting himself with all of these different styles, as well as the possible attack from his ex-teacher. Not only this, this Cassie girl was almost impossible to decipher, from her mannerisms alone she seemed extremely secretive, which all changed when her brother came to her side.

In almost no time at all, their battle was the last of the day, and he could already feel the sweat pinpricking all over his body as he shook out of pure discomfort. He took a deep breath as he walked down the stairs, feeling the looks of concern from nearly everyone burning into the back of his neck as he entered the arena. He gave another gasp of air as his feet hit the black dirt and Cassandra stood to face him.

"It's nice to meet you," she said, grinning sweetly. Gabriel nodded, words still failing him as any plans of attack that he'd thought up went south and disappeared into the abyss of uncertainty. He could hear Allison and Raiden cheering him on, but he wasn't fully inputting what they were saying. When he looked back up, he saw that Cassie was already in the middle of summoning her creature.

"Gorgion, Shadow of Gluttony!"

"Oh, it had to be this creature, didn't it?" Gabriel whimpered, not-so-fondly remembering his last encounter. He gave one last inhale and exhale, and made his final decision. "Regent Sasha, Channeler of Light!" Sasha burst forward from the portal, albeit confused.

"Gabriel. Why did you not use your mobile phone to summon me?" she asked, but quickly ascertained the situation, and of what she was supposed to do. She nodded silently, and the two both commanded their creatures to attack. Gorgion, rather than attacking head-on, circled around Sasha and made threatening gestures at Gabe, as he yelped in terror. Cassandra laughed every time he flinched, taking more fun out of toying with him and his creature than attacking them.

Ray glared down at the battle. "Gee, I think that qualifies as 'game misconduct' by his rules." But, Brightmore and the other Specialists were more confused than angered, not understanding exactly what she was getting at. All of a sudden, Cassandra commanded Gorgion to attack, and a massive sonar shockwave pummeled Sasha into the ground, depositing her in a crater. For a few seconds, you could hear a pin drop as the dust cleared and everyone wondered if she'd managed to take Sasha down in one strike. As Sasha stirred, Gabe looked over at Cassie with confused disgust.

"I had to bide my time somehow, didn't I?" she asked, her grin much less friendly and more devious. Sam whooped from the sidelines as Gabe sighed in disgust. He rushed over the Sasha, helping her up off the ground as she assessed the situation. "Don't tell me you're going to forfeit now," Cassandra volleyed as Gorgion returned to her side in a flash. "We still have so much time to get to know each other!"

"I'm not!" Gabe yelled back. "Sorry about this, but… Regent Sasha, Channeler of Light, evolve!" He extended his hand as Sasha's entire body was enveloped in a bright white light. She emerged from the temporary evolution almost unrecognizable; she was twice as tall, her body and feet covered with two more sets of wings, and her face shielded with a halo-like visor as orbs of light circled around her throat with a low hum. Cassandra stared in joyful awe, not even minding that her creature was immediately blasted away and banished with one concentrated beam of light.

"That is enough," Brightmore's voice called from on high. He once again entered the arena, as Gabriel anxiously awaited his chastising. But, to his surprise, Cassandra was instead ridiculed for treating Kaijudo like a game, for not taking it seriously and for using boyish pranks to fool enemies rather than strategy. She wasn't deterred in the slightest, but it was noticeably clear she was expecting Gabe to get the brunt of his rage. Gabriel gave a sigh of relief, but Nigel turned on his heel quickly to share a disgusted glance.

"Spells are forbidden in standard battles unless explicitly stated otherwise in this institution, Adept Wallace. That is all for now." He walked off, Gabe swearing that he heard him whisper "this time" her his breath. Cassandra was too busy marveling at Sasha's newly altered form, and frowned at bit when Gabriel banished her away with a quick apology. He walked up the stairs to meet Raiden and Allie as they walked back to their rooms.

"Man, you got lucky, Gabe!" Ray said.

"I know! I thought he was gonna call you out for having your shoe untied, or something stupid like that. Nice job." Allie agreed.

The smoke from the colander ceased, as did the image of her three friends. Lucy blinked, not sure of what she'd just seen, but Kimiko was ready to help her up. "You see? At the current moment, they are all fine and well. Your worries were founded, but unnecessary. Is that all you wish to know?"

"Yeah. What do you mean 'at the current moment' or whatever?" Lucy asked, a bit more aggressively than that she'd intended. Kimiko paused, and then gave a sort of forced chuckle. "Well, I am known as the Oracle of Misery, that much is true. While I can show you the fonder aspects of the present, there still lingers a possibility of misfortune in the future, though it can always be changed with the proper help. All I can offer you is this advice: beware the Prince of Earth."

* * *

 ****NEW CHARACTERS****

 **Kimiko, Oracle of Misery**


End file.
